Match machine



Feb. '21, 1933. J. c. DONNELLY MATCH MACHINE Original Filed April 23, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l J. c. DONNELLY MATCH MACHINE Original Filed April 23, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jsc Z: DOTWCZZI J. c. DONNELLY 1,898,716

MATCH MACHINE Original Filed April 23, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 21, 1933.

Feb. 21, 1933. J. c; DONNELLY MATCH MACHINE o i l Filed April 23, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Feb. 21, 1933. J DONNEL-LY 1,898,716

MATCH MACHINE Original Filed April 23, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 flligi Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 JOSEPH c. DONNELLY, or BARBERTON, omo, assienon, BY'MESNE Assmmrmvrs, r0

- THE nramonn MATCH COMPANY, A CORPORATION or AR LAND MATCH MACHINE Application filed April 23, 1930, Serial No. 446,714. Renewed February 2, 1932.

This invention relates to match making machines, and more particularly to that class of such machines wherein is employed an endless carrier adapted and arranged to receive succeeding transverse rows of splints at one location and transport them through the match making path to another location Where the finished matches are punched row by row from the carrier.

A match making machine embodying my invention is especially, though not exclusively, designed for 'use in connection with the match packing machine forming the subject of an application for patent filed by me simultaneously herewithunder Serial No. 446,715.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision, in a match machine of the class mentioned, of coordinated carrier and punch actuating mechanisms whereby the rows of matches are discharged from the carrier with greater rapidity than the rows of splints are inserted therein, and whereby after each succeeding discharge of a prescribed number of rows of matches there is an idle period at the discharge station while the splint setting operation continues, thus permitting the eificient movement of a plurality of match receptacles into or from the match discharge path, throughout the width of the carrier, and this without? curtailing the pro-' ductive capacity of the match machine.-

The invention is hereinillustrated as embodied in a match machine of the so-called cut, set and dip type wherein the splints are cut row by row from blocks of wood by vertically reciprocating cutters and inserted in succeeding rows of perforations in the plates of an endless carrier, but it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in the set and dip type of match machine wherein previously prepared splints are ejected'row by row from a magazine and inserted-in the perforations of the carrier plates.

A preferred embodiment of my invention will be hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention then be defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a partial elevation of the delivery end of a match machine embodying the v principle of my invention, showing an intermittently movable endless chain of receptacles adapted to receive the matches during the succeeding periods of discharge.

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation, on a larger scale, various parts beingsh'own in section.

Fig. 3 is a sideelevationof the delivery end of the machine, showing in sectionthe receptacle chain and itsadjuncts, together with the block feed trough.

Fig. 4 is a transverse horizontal section of I the machine directly above the pin wheels of the-match carrier actuating mechanism, as on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a similar section directly above the punch head at the match discharge station,'as on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section ad'acent the variable pin wheel mechanism whlch determines the operation of the match carrier adjacent the punch head.

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan, as on the line 7-7 of Fig.6. v

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan of vibratory actuating arms for the timing pins ofthe varia able pin wheel.

' Fig. 9 is a detail of a trip wheel, and adjuncts, for actuating the lifter for the said vibratory arms. 3 .2

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a part of the main framev of a vcontinuous match machine, and 11 designates themain drive shaft.

12 designates a part of the match .carrier comprising an endless chain of hingedly connected'plates having parallel rows of perforations adapted to receive and. hold match splints at one end and transport them through the match making cycle- 13 designates a vertically reciprocative setting head carrying a row of'cutters 1 1 by means of which succeeding rows of splints are cut from blocks .of wood andinserted in the perforations of. the overlying horizontal run a of the match. carrier. 15 designates the crank shaft for reciprocatingthe setting head, which shaft is appropriately geared with and driven from the mam shaft.

16 designates a horizontally-reciprocative head carrying a row of punches 17 operative to eject the finished matches from the perforations of the vertical run I; of the match carrier before its fiexure at c to the horizontal path across the cutter head. The punch head is connected by parallel rods 18 to up-standing arms 19 fast on a rock-shaft 20 journaled in suitably-disposed bearings in the frame. The rock-shaft 20-has also fast thereon an arm 21 which is connected by'm'eans of a rod 22 with an eccentric 23 on a lower cross-shaft 24 journaled in hearings in the lower portion of the frame. The shaft 24 is equipped with a pinion 25 in mesh with a spur wheel 26 onthe main shaft 11.

27 designates an endless conveyer having a succession of match receptacles28 adapted and arranged .to travel in a horizontal path immediately below the plane of discharge of the matches from the match carrier and to receive the matches as they are delivered.

The mechanisms just referred. to are or may be of any usual or approved construction, excepting as hereinafter particularly described. 7

Heretofore the match .carrier has been uniformly moved intermittently at the splint inserting and match discharging'stations, and also the setting and punch heads have been reciprocated concurrently and atthe same speed .to effect respectivelythe insertion of splints in the carrier and the ejection of the finished matches.

' In the present embodiment of my invention the punch head is operated at a higher speed than the setting head during the setting of a given number of rows of splints in the carrier, and the portion of the carrier adjacent the punch head is moved at a correspondingly increased speed to present to the path of the accelerated punches a succession of rows of perforations equivalent to the series presented to the setting head, andis then maintained at rest during the lagging interval of the setting operation, the punches 17 reciprocating idly in a row of perforations in'the inactive portion of the carrier. In

other words, in the setting of a series of rows.

of splints, say, eleven rows, in one part of the carrier, a corresponding. series of rows of finished matches are dlscharged from another part of the carrier in, say, one-half the splint setting period, such latter portion of the carrier being quiescent during the remainder of the period and the punches reciprocating idly in a row of perforations.

A slackness of the match carrier at 0 in its travel between the match discharge and the splint setting stations compensates for the speed difference of the carrier.

As illustrated,'the horizontal and vertical portions of the carrier are relatively advanced across the setting head and in front of the punch head by means of two pairs of intermittently rotating gear wheels 29, 30, respectively, which mesh with adjacent marginal gear teeth 31 on the carrier plates. The two pairs of gears 29, are fast on two suita ly-disposed transverse shafts 32, 33, respectively, having their hearings in the main frame. In the present instance the shaft 33 is provided at one end with a gear 34 in mesh with an idler gear 35 which in turn meshes with a gear 36 fast on the shaft 32. The gear 34 is loose on the shaft 33 and has a bevel gear face 37 which meshes with a bevel gear 38 on an upright shaft 39, journaled in suitable bearingbrackets 40 on the main frame. The lower end of the shaft 39 has fast thereon a pin wheel 41 whereof the pins 42 are engaged by a cam wheel 43 on a transverse shaft 44 which is operatively connected through gears 45 and 46 with the crank shaft 15. Thus continuous rotary motion is transmitted from the shaft 15 to the shaft 44 and its cam Wheel 43. I The contour of the cam surface and the spacing of the pins of the pin wheel 41 are such-that the pins are successively engaged by'the cam surface in a manner to eflect a uniform intermittent rotation of the pin wheel and its shaft 39, thus correspondingly impelling the horizontal run of the match carrier through the transmission gearing described.- 7

Previously the gear 34 has been fixed to the shaft 33 and therefore corresponding intermittent movements have been imparted to the horizontal and vertical runs of the match carrier through'the agency of the single cam 43 and pin wheel 41 and the associated gearing, and the reciprocation of the punch head has been timed correspondingly with that of the setting head. According to the present invention the shaft 33 is operated independently of the cam 43 and pin wheel 41, to impart the series of high speed intermittent movements, with alternating prolonged dwells, ,to' the carrier at the punch mechanism only, and the speed of the punch head is correspondingly increased as hereinbefore mentioned.

The preferred mechanism for operating the shaft 33 is as follows:

Loose on the end of the shaft 44 remote from the cam 43 is the elongated hub 47 of a cam wheel 48 which co-operates with the pins 49 of a second pin wheel 50 fast on the lower end of an upright shaft 51 having its bearings in brackets 52 on the adjacent side of the main frame. The acting surface of the cam 48 corresponds with that of the cam 43 and the spacing of the pins on the pin wheel 50 corresponds with that of the pins of the pin wheel 41.

Fast on the cam hub 47 is a gear 53 which meshes with a gear 54 fast on the crank shaft 15, the ratio of the gearing, in the present instance, being such'that the cam wheel 48 as the portion of the carrier in the vicinity of the splint setting head.

Provision is had whereby when the pin wheel 50 has been intermittently rotated to efiect the advancement of the carrier a distance of, say, eleven rows of matches, (during which period the portion, a, of the carrier in the vicinity of the setting head is advancing a distance of five and one-half rows of perforations) the next succeeding pin to be engaged by the cam 48 is temporarily withdrawn from the path of the cam to permit the idle rotation of the latter during the advancement of the portion a of the carrier a distance of five and one-half rows of perforations, thus resulting in a prolonged dwell of the carrier at the discharge station and permitting the idle reciprocations of the punches in the aligning row of holes in the carrier during its period of rest.

This done, the idle timing pin is returned to active position and the cam wheel 48 coacting therewith again advances the pin wheel 50 step-by-step until another series of eleven matches have been discharged from the carrier, whereupon the same or another suitably-located timing pin is moved to'idle position, and so on.

In the present instance the pin wheel 50 is provided with twenty-one equally-spaced pins, whereof two diametrically-opposite timing pins w are employed. Each of these pins is slidable in and projects above a perforated boss on the body of the pin Wheel, and the upper endof the pin is jointed, as at 58, to the outer end of a vibratoryradial arm 59. This arm is pivoted at its inner end, as at'60, to a suitable fixture 61 on the hub of the pin wheel. A spring 62 secured to the arm 59 and to the top of the pin wheel maintains the arm normally depressed with the lower-end of the pin extending into the,

active path of the cam surface. Projecting from the outer end of the arm 59 and beyond the periphery of the pin wheelis a toe 63 which at a proper interval of time in the rotationof the pin Wheel 50 is broughtabovethe path of a vertically-movable lifter 64, whereby when such lifter is raised or lowered it correspondingly raises or permits the descent of the overlying radial arm, thus moving the timing pin out of or into the effective path of the cam.

The lifter preferably comprises a lever arm fast on one end of a shaft 640 having its bearing in a bracket 65 in proximity to the pin wheel 50. The other end of this shaft is provided with a depending toe 66 by actuation of which the shaft can be rocked and the lifter arm swung in a vertical arc. This toe, when the lifter arm is down, projects into the path of a semi-circular peripheral portion 67' of a trip wheel 68 fast on a shaft 69 which is mounted on the bracket 65 below the fulcrum of the lifter arm. Fast on the shaft 69 is a worm wheel 70 with which meshes a Worm 71 on the upper end of an inclined shaft 7 2. A bevel gear 7 3 on the lower end of the shaft 72 meshes with a similar gear 7 4 on the hub 47 of the cam 48, and hence during the rotation of the cam motion is transmitted through the associated bevel and worm gearing to the shaft 69 in a manner to rotate the tripwheel in timed relation to the cam wheel 48, that is to say, during the succeeding step-by-step 'movements of the pin wheel 50 the trip wheel is corresponding ly moved step-bystep.

When in each rotation of the pin wheel 50 the toe 63 of one of the arms 59 is brought above the lifter arm, the leading end of the peripheral portion 67 of the trip wheel 68 impinges against the toe 66 of the lifter arm, thereby swinging the lifter upward and'perforce raising the arm 59 and its associated pin m, thus rendering the pin wheelv inactive. The peripheral portion 67 retains the lifter raised and the pin wheel inactive until the trip wheel has made a semi-rotation, whereupon such portion escapes and releases the opposing toe 66, and the arms 64,

59 together with the timing pin resume their normal down positions. the released pin is engaged by the'cam 48 and the intermittent rotation of the pin wheel is resumed and continued until the leading end of the peripheral portion 67 of the trip wheel again engages the toe 66 of the lifter lever 64, whereupon the second timing pin is raised and the pin wheel is rendered temporarily inactive, and so on throughout the match making cycle.

The ratio of the gearing for operating the punch head is such that the head and its punches are reciprocated in timed relation to the intermittent movement of the adjacent part of the match carrier. During the rapid active reciprocations of the punches in a succession of rows of perforations in thecarrier the rows of matches thus ejected fromthe carrier are delivered to a series of the underlying receptacles 28, and in the interval of the idle reciprocations of the punches such receptacles are moved away from the carrier and another series of receptacles are positioned to receive the next succeeding rows of matches discharged from the carrier, and so on.

In the present instance the punches are arranged in three spaced-apart groups or sections, as seen in Figs. 2 and 5, and hence the This done, 1

matches are ejected in spaced groups. Consequently three properly spaced receptacles are positioned to receive the respective groups of matches during each period of match discharge from. the carrier.

The receptacles 28 preferably constitute temporary match holders which co-operate with match packing instrumentalities such as disclosed in my co-pending application L aforesaid. These holders are formed in s aced relation on the respective links of the endless conveyer 27 by means of crossblades 75, each holder being transversely partitioned and occupying a space substantially equal in length to the interior of an ordinary match box tray. The conveyer is supported at its respective ends on suitable sprocket wheels 76, 77 (Fig. 1). This con- Veyer is intermittently actuated in timed relation to the match carrier to present a series of three temporary holders to the path of the matches discharged from the match machine during each succeeding dwell of the conveyer.

As a means to this end the shaft 7 8 of the sprocket wheel 7 6 remote from the match machine has, fixed thereon a bevel gear 79 in mesh with, a. bevel gear 80 fast on a vertical shaft 81 journaled in a bearing on a suitable 5 supporting frame. On the lower end of the vertical shaft is a pin wheel 82 whereof the pins co-act with a cam 83 fast on a shaft 84 to which power is transmitted through. suitable gearing from the main shaft of the match i machine. The contour of the cam surface and a. packing machine, for example.

It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the particular exemplifying construction herein disclosed, as the mechanisms may be modified within the principle of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. The combination with a match carrier, splint setting mechanism at one location in J the course of the carrier, match discharge mechanism at another location. in said course, and means for moving the splint receiving portion of the carrier in timed relation to the setting mechanism whereby succeeding rows of splints are inserted in the carrier, of means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the setting mechanism, and means for actuating the carrier adjacent the discharge mechanism in timed 6? relation to the operation of the discharge mechanism in such manner that after each succeeding discharge from the carrier of. a plurality of rows of matches corresponding with a plurality of rows of splints inserted in the carrier in a given time by the setting head, the movement of the carrier adjacent the discharge mechanism is temporarily halted to compensate for the lagof the carrier at the setting head;

' 2. The combination with a match carrier, a reciprocating splint setting. head at one location in the course of the carrier, reciprocating match discharge punches at another location in said course, andmeans for moving step-by-step the receiving portion of the carrier in timed relation to the reciprocations of the setting. head whereby succeeding rows of splints are inserted in the carrier, of means for reciprocating the punches at a relatively higher speed than the setting head, and means for imparting to the portion of the carrier adjacent the punches step-by-step movements in regular series alternating with prolonged dwells, each series corresponding in number and distance with the movements of the carrier at the setting head, and each prolonged dwell being timed to. compensate for the lag of the carrier at the setting head.

3. The combination with a match carrier, splint setting mechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, match discharge mechanism at another location in said course, and means for moving the carrier at the setting head at a regular speed in timed relation to the setting mechanism, of means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the setting mechanism, and means, including a co-operating cam and pin wheel, for actuating the carrier at and in timed relation to the speed of the discharge mechanism, at least one of the pins being independently movable into andout of the active path of the cam, and means for rendering said pin active and inactive at predetermined intervals.

4:. The combination with a match carrier, splint settingmechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, match discharge mechanism at another location in said course, and meansfor moving the carrier at the setting head at a regular speed in timed relatiori to the setting mechanism, of means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the settingmechanism', and means. including a co-operating cam and pin wheel, for actuating the carrier at and in timed relation to the speed of the discharge mechanism, at least one of the pins being independently movable into and out of the active path of the cam, means for normally maintaining said pin in the active position, and means for rendering said pin temporarily inactive at predetermined intervals.

5. The combination with a match carrier,

splint setting mechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, match discharge mechanism at another location in said course, and means, including a co-operating cam and pin wheel, for actuating the carrier at the setting head, of means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the setting mechanism, and means, including a second (lo-operating cam and a pin wheel, for actuating the carrier at and in timed relation to the speed of the discharge mechanism, at least one of the pins of the latter pin wheel being movable independently into and out of the active path of the cam, and means operative to render said pin active and inactive at predetermined intervals.

6. The combination with a match carrier, splint setting mechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, match discharge mechanism at another location in said course, and means for moving the carrier at the setting head at a regular speed in timed relation to the setting mechanism, of means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the setting mechanism, and means, including a co-operating cam and a pin wheel, for actuating the carrier at and in timed relation to the speed of the discharge mechanism, at least one of the pins being independently movable into and out of the active path of the cam, means for normally maintaining said pin in the active position, pin-controlling means including a lifter operative to render the movable pin inactive at predetermined intervals, a rotary trip member for actuating said litter, and means for rotating said trip member in timed relation to the cam.

7. The combination with a match carrier, splint setting mechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, and match discharge punches at another location in said course, of carrier actuating mechanism comprising two cams, means for rotating said cams at different relative speeds, pin wheels co-operating with the respective cams, the pin wheel which co-operates with the higher speed cam having at least one of its pins movable into and out of the path of the complementary cam, means for moving said pin into and out of active position at predetermined intervals, transmission mechanism between said pin wheels and the portions of the carrier adjacent the setting mechanism and discharge punches, respectively, and means for actuating said punches in timed relation to the speed of the adjacent portion of the carrier.

8. The combination with a match carrier, splint setting mechanism at one location in the course of the carrier, and match discharge mechanism at another location in said course, of means for moving the splint receiving portion of the carrier in timed relation to the setting mechanism whereby succeeding rows of splints are inserted in the carrier, means for actuating the discharge mechanism at a relatively higher speed than the setting mechanism, means for actuating the carrier adjacent the discharge mechanism in timed relation to the operation of thevdischarge mechanism in such manner that after each succeeding discharge from the carrier of a plurality of rows of matches corresponding with a plurality of rows of splints inserted in the carrier in a given time by the setting head, the movement of the carrier adjacent the discharge mechanism is temporarily halted to compensate for the lag of the carrier at the setting head, and means for intermittently advancing match receptacles in succeeding series to receive the matches discharged from the carrier, the movements of the receptacles being efi'ected during the prolonged dwells of thecarrier.

Signed at Barberton in the county of Summit and State of Ohio this 21 day of April,

JOSEPH G. DONNELLY. 

